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Study: Women Better than Men Behind the Wheel

Source: MSNBC

Posted on 13 Jan 2012

In the proverbial battle of the sexes, women are better drivers than men. Or so says a new study by an online auto insurance group that hopes to dispel the long-standing notion that women are bad drivers.

Some 80 percent of all fatal and serious car crashes are caused by male drivers, the study says. It says women are 27 percent less likely than men to cause auto accidents. In 2007, statistics reveal men were involved in 6.1 million car accidents while women were involved in 4.4 million.Male drivers outnumber females 3 to 1 for DUI violations, according to the study.

It's almost scary how bad the average American man is at driving," 4autoinsurancequote CEO James Shaffer said. "Blame it on whatever you want — high testosterone, higher propensity to take risks, or higher levels of aggression, but the fact remains — men simply make too many mistakes behind the wheel."

The study "Women Are Bad Drivers — Fact Or Fiction?" compares traffic violation, accident, and insurance price statistics between men and women.

The study shows how traffic violations are higher for male drivers in almost every single category from reckless driving, failure to yield, seat belt violations, or speeding.

The average six-month policy for a man costs $765 while it only costs $698 for women.

The study confirms information that has long been known, said Pete Moraga, a spokesman with the Insurance Information Network of California. But he said that the gap between male and female driving habits is quickly closing.

According to a 2009 report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Highway Loss Data Institute, more men than women die each year in car crashes. Men drive more miles than women and drive more dangerously. The report also said, however, that in crashes of equal severity, females are more likely than males to be killed or injured.

"When it comes to the battle of the sexes of bad driving habits, no one wins," Moraga said. "Men and women equally need to do their best to drive safely to protect all of us on the road."